Play.com emails customer details to other customers

Online DVD and CD seller Play.com has sent out dozens of emails containing customer account details to the wrong customers.

We were contacted by Reg reader Ben, who had received an order confirmation email for a customer called Kate. This included the title of the CD she had ordered - The Killers' "Live at the Royal Albert Hall" if you must know - as well as her email address, delivery address and payment method, but no other financial details. In total, Ben got 24 messages with order confirmations for different customers.

When he contacted Play.com, it said it had received a lot of complaints and its IT department was trying to discover what had gone wrong. Three days later and it seems it is still looking for an answer.

Ben made noises about the Information Commissioner's Office, responsible for dealing with corporate and government data leaks, and the police. He has since been offered a £5 Play.com voucher.

Many customers received dozens of different order confirmations for dozens of other customers - one punter told the Beeb he'd received over 80 emails which should have gone to other customers.

We've contacted both Play.com and the ICO and will update when we hear more.

The company told the BBC on Friday that it took such incidents very seriously and was investigating. ®